The German cruiser Emden displaced 4,628 tons and had a top speed of 25 knots. She was launched in 1908 and served in Asiatic waters until World War I when she was sent raiding in the Indian Ocean. Her work came to an abrupt end when she was wrecked on a reef in November 1914 but not before she had destroyed sixteen British vessels. Her wreck was partially dismantled in 1950.